Spam King and Family Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Edward Davidson, who was known as the "spam king" (although the moniker has been given to nearly every spammer who has ever been caught) has been found dead in Colorado, along with his wife and 3-year-old child, apparently in a murder-suicide. Another child approximately 7 months old was found unhurt, and a teenage daughter had been shot in the neck with a bullet but managed to run away.

Davidson had escaped from a minimum-security facility on Sunday — essentially a work camp — allegedly with help from his wife.

Authorities estimate Davidson made at least $3.5 million from spamming activities conducted by his company Power Promoters between 2003 and 2006. He’d been sentenced in April to 21 months in prison for tax evasion and falsifying e-mail headers on spam advertising low-cost high-risk penny stocks that he sent out on behalf of an unnamed Houston company. He’d also been ordered to pay $714,139 to the Internal Revenue Service.